Price gouging is a pejorative term for a seller pricing much higher than is considered reasonable or fair. In precise, legal usage, it is the name of a felony that applies in some of the United States only during civil emergencies.

One thing to take into consideration before permanently avoiding these places- some gas stations base pricing on whatever the gas is quoted from the sellers that day. The past few days many refineries in Texas and Louisiana have been temporarily shut down due to Ike. Gas prices spiked. Just an observation. That's what happened with one of the grocery chains here.

It might be gouging on the part of the gas station, but then again, it might not. Many gas stations don't charge based on the gas that is in the tanks, they charge based on what the delivery of new gas will cost them. Do you know that both stations get gas from the same supplier? Do you know what each station was charged for the delivery of gas? No?

Fine, report it as suspected gouging, but don't claim it as such unless you know for a fact that it is.

Is there any particular reason you bought gas there when you could have paid $1.20 per gallon less down the road? I usually have a pretty good idea of what the going price is, and $4.75 would have set off alarm bells in my mind!

the line for the gas at the other place was on both sides of the highway, backed up for a while, as someone who works about 60-70 hours a week, i simply could not wait, as i had other duties.

dear brant, it is possible you are correct; however, there is no reason that particular station should have paid a delivery cost that same day, that would jack up the price that much. no other station, that i am aware of, had a price that high, even days after.

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